I am pained to write this review, but am upset with Sonny and his work ethic…read more
Last year in Oct. I hired Sonny to create a landscaped yard in our new house for my mom, who I was caregiving for, after strokes and being diagnosed with advance stages of Alzheimer's and vascular dementia.
We were supposed to meet up at a landscape/garden center a few weeks before our project started. Sonny didn't show up to the appointment, however he called and apologized profusely and said he had an landscape emergency for another client and wouldn't be able to make it *after I called to figure out where he was.*
I didn't make a big deal about it and was understanding because crap happens and sometimes it's unavoidable.
After we agreed upon the project - it was supposed to start the second week of November. I called him to confirm the weekend before the project was supposed to start and was told that he wouldn't be able to be there until two weeks later, due to other projects being pushed back, because of the rain. Again, was understanding because it happens. *I shouldn't have been*
Sonny did not order all of the plants we had discussed, but charged me for them - telling me that it wasn't the right season for them, however he'd be back during spring to plant the other plants and had already pre-ordered them, but couldn't get them in until then. We still were able to plant the trees, roses and other plants, so I figured this was just normal practice and was okay with waiting for spring to come, so we'd finish with the planting.
I also had purchased bulbs from Costco and had asked them to plant them. I printed instructions for the specific bulb types, so I could be sure our peony bulbs were planted correctly - however while I was inside caring for my mom, Sonny threw all of the bulbs randomly through our front and back yard and figured that would be sufficient. Because of that - only 3 out of 9 peony plants grew. I would have preferred to been consulted as to WHERE I wanted the bulbs to be planted, as I have a shaded area in our backyard, that would have been perfect for the peonies.
2 weeks later, the team did their work and Sonny was there for the planting. He didn't do the sprinklers *his friend does,* and when I asked them to show me how to use the sprinklers before they left, his friend told me that I could call them to stop by to reprogram it when I planted new plants. I should have insisted, but honestly I was trying to pick my battles, because as a caregiver - you never know when you really need to fight for your loved one. I was exhausted and just let it go.
During the winter months, we had an issue with flooding in a portion of our yard AND it turns out Sonny and his team did NOT fill in dirt holes on the sides of our yard, where they installed a metal landscaping edge. I decided to email In March after our neighbors mentioned the additional water and the carved out dirt around that area, and was told he'd get back to me after the weekend. *Guess what, he didn't. Big surprise!*
I decided to follow up with him again in June. He told me that due to covid, he was out of business and no longer landscaping. I couldn't verify if he was telling the truth, so I asked for a refund on the plants. He told me they planted everything we had ordered and I had to email him a few times with line item receipts and prices, in order to get any sort of refund. He had said he wasn't in the area to do any work, so I wasn't going to try and get him to fix the work they screwed up.
However - it is very clear to his YELP and business pages that Sonny is in fact STILL doing business and just doesn't want to fix the issues he caused in our yard. I think our job was an easy job and a nice paycheck of 13k for easy work. I had loved the idea of supporting our ex military by working with him and he alluded that his military background forced him to be diligent, hardworking and honest. However through his own actions, he's proved that it is not the case.
In my opinion, following up with our job and installing the additional plants/fixing the parts of the yard they messed up - was/is small potatoes compared to the jobs he's getting due to Covid. I've heard from many other landscaping businesses that people are putting more money into their yards, due to having to stay home more and he's clearly still working. He just didn't want to help us, after he was paid and the initial work was done.
Please don't use this company. He will not stand by his work or follow up. And if he gets a bigger job, he'll probably make excuses as to why he can't finish your yard, too.
*I'd also like to add that I myself, am a small business owner and have been running it from home for almost 6 years. I would NEVER treat customers the way he has and that should have been my first clue.